


Leaving the Bits Behind

by BrenanaBread



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Kissing, Nonbinary Character, Other, because would it be a fic of mine, definite misunderstanding of the french language, friendship bonding, if it didnt include some kissing ????, mlbforblm, nonbinary!Adrien, terms of endearment, theres no stopping me, they/them pronoun practice
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-08
Updated: 2020-08-08
Packaged: 2021-03-06 05:20:44
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,065
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25778059
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BrenanaBread/pseuds/BrenanaBread
Summary: Adrien finds love and support when they ask their friends to try out they/them pronouns.
Relationships: Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir/Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug
Comments: 24
Kudos: 98





	Leaving the Bits Behind

**Author's Note:**

  * For [nekomari](https://archiveofourown.org/users/nekomari/gifts).



> For the lovely and incredible nekomari! Follow them on tumblr if you've (somehow) missed them: [@mari-cherri](https://mari-cherri.tumblr.com/)! I hope you enjoy <3

Adrien’s eyes are downcast, shoes scraping against each other, the rubber squeaking in protest.

Laying a hand on a curved shoulder, Marinette coaxes Adrien’s gaze back to her own with a soft smile and a candy-sweet voice. “We can start right now, if you want.” 

Adrien thinks about it, biting the tip of a yellow-painted nail nervously. “Would that be alright?” they ask, hesitant and uncertain.

“Of course,” she squeezes lightly. “Of course it will be alright.”

“You don’t need, like, time to adjust?” They shift in their spot, fingers picking at the bottom of their tshirt. It’s bleached in color from the constant wear. Usually they tuck the edge into their jeans to avoid the disapproving glare of their father, but it’s a comfort they need right now. They know their friends would never care about their clothing anyway. 

“Nah.” Nino smiles at them. He steps forward until he’s right in front of his friend and takes the baseball cap of his own head and plops it onto Adrien’s. The hat doesn’t sit properly, the unruly hair beneath it pushing it up at odd angles, but Adrien doesn’t care. It feels safe, like Nino’s offering them his own brand of protection and care. “We might not be perfect straight away, but the only way to get better is to practice, right?”

“And there’s no time like the present.” Adrien didn’t even notice Alya sneak up beside them, one hand on her hip while the other reaches out to tap the brim, pushing the hat farther down on Adrien’s head. “Besides, Sunshine, you know we’ve got your back.” Her nose scrunches up as she smiles. “Always.”

“I’m nervous,” they admit, eyes flitting to each of their friends. “I don’t want to make you all uncomfortable around me. I don’t want you to feel like you can’t talk to me anymore because it’s too difficult.”

“Hey,” Marinette grabs their hand, curling her fingers around their own. It’s a soft touch, a gentle reminder of her affection, but the pressure is firm and resolute. “Look at me.” There’s no wiggle room in her eyes. “We would  _ never _ think that, okay? Talking to you isn’t a chore, Adrien—and it never will be.” She reaches out a hand to trace along their jaw, thumb smoothing over their cheek like silk. “We love you. We want to be around you.” 

“If you’re worried, we could practice right now,” Nino offers. “And you could tell us if we should change anything.”

“Like I said,” Alya straightens her back, shooting them a matter-of-fact look, “no time like the present.”

“And Alya’s never wrong.” Nino winks at her and she shoves him playfully, wrapping an arm around his waist so he doesn’t travel too far away and they’re pressed side-to-side. “So whaddya say, Ren? Let us give it a try?” 

Adrien’s heart thrums rapidly in their chest—out-of-beat and irregular, like a dance where they keep missing the steps. They’re apprehensive, afraid of stepping out of line or becoming a burden, but desperately hopeful.

It’s trust that carries them through. Looking at their friends’ eager faces, feeling Marinette’s hand alive and determined in their own, Adrien squishes the baseball cap down onto their head more firmly. 

Their smile lights up their face like daybreak. “Okay.”   
  
They don’t even have time to celebrate before Alya turns to Marinette and speaks. “Hey M, have you seen Adrien?”

Marinette looks at Alya curiously, her attention only vaguely pulled from her partner. “Um. Yes?”

“Really? Because I haven’t seen them.” She doesn’t emphasize the pronoun, says it just as casually as she would any other, detangling herself from Nino’s embrace so she can look at his face more easily. “Have you seen them? They lent me their notes for the problem set due tomorrow and I need to return them before I forget.”

“I haven’t yet, but I have lunch plans with them so I’ll definitely see them before the end of the day. Do you want me to deliver the notes for you?”

“Actually, can I join you for lunch instead? I had a question for them anyway. Still haven’t really gotten the hang of drawing force diagrams.” 

“Oh they’re killer at that.”

She rolls her eyes, bumping Nino’s hip with her own. “I’m aware. I didn’t choose them randomly, babe.”

“I  _ meant _ they’re killer at explaining concepts. Practically the only reason my English grade is perfect.”

“You put in the work yourself,” Adrien interrupts. “I can’t take credit for that.”

“Ah,  _ there _ they are! Hey d—” Nino cuts himself off abruptly, looking sheepish as he runs a hand down the back of his head. “Okay, I’ve got a question for you.”

“Shoot.”

“How do you feel about me calling you ‘dude’? Or ‘bro’?”

Adrien thinks for a moment, imagining it. Nino’s used the words on them for so long, it’s faded into the background of their life. They barely even notice it. It’s the white noise of a radiator—unpleasant when they focus on it, but generally unnoticed. “It’s fine.”

Nino shakes his head. “That’s not what I asked. Does it, like,  _ feel  _ okay? I don’t want it to just be another thing you put up with. I want it to be something you like.”

Admitting their feelings seems a little too close to defeat, but Adrien doesn’t want to lie. 

“It doesn’t...feel great,” Adrien hangs their head, shoulders drooping. “But I don’t want you changing the way you talk because of me!” they’re quick to add. “It’s fine, I’m used to it! And I know you use that for everyone—you don’t mean it to be gendered.”

“That’s not the point, though.” Nino drops down to Adrien’s side, slinging an arm across their shoulders. “I want to know what makes you comfortable. Changing a word here and there isn’t asking too much of me, Adrien. And look at it this way, we get to come up with something new together! And it’ll be unique to you,” he plops his head onto Adrien’s shoulder, tightening his arm around them. “Unique to our friendship.”

“That sounds...that sounds pretty nice.”

“Lucky for me, I already use neutral terms for you, kitty.” Marinette winks at them, lifting the hand still clasped in her own to her lips and placing a kiss against their knuckles. “Does that still work for you?”

“I love it.” Adrien’s voice cracks and they blush when her lips brush their skin, a warmth traveling across their face like a wildfire.

Marinette pauses with their hand still caressed in her own, gently cradling it against her face, and takes a moment to think through her other terms of endearment for them. “How do you feel about princet?”

They make a face. “Instead of ‘my prince’?”

“Okay so that’s a no,” she giggles. “Don’t worry, it wasn’t a favorite of mine either.”

“What about calling them ‘royalty’?” Alya says, giving Adrien a sly look. “Adrien’s too charming to go without a title.”

Laughter bubbles up from their chest, springing forth like it would be impossible to contain. “I think we can go more traditional routes than that.”

“Of course, there’s the classics, ‘mon cœur, ‘mon amour’, ‘ma moitié’,” Marinette says as she ticks them off on her fingers. 

“My sister always uses ‘ma moitié’ when she’s mad at her girlfriend.” Alya wrinkles her nose. “I can’t hear it as anything but total sarcasm.”

“I want to use something different anyway,” Marinette shakes her head. “What about ‘mon étoile’? For all the nights you’ve spent telling me about astronomy? Your dreams of being an astrophysicist?”

Adrien gulps. They think it sounds beautiful, like they’re ethereal—treasured. But they’re hesitant to accept it. It’s too much—like calling a kitten a tiger.  
  
“But does it really fit?” they ask, almost timidly. “Do you really see me that way?”

Marinette bites her lip as she examines Adrien carefully. Their posture is rigid, hair curling around their ears like protection, lips pursed and eyes squinted as if they’re afraid of her reaction. Her eyes bore into theirs intently, trying to communicate all the care and affection she feels for them, but she can tell it’s not getting through. 

“Hey Alya? Nino?” she turns her body towards her friends but never takes her eyes off Adrien, still checking to see they’re comfortable. “Could I get some alone time with Adrien? We’ll meet you back at the library in a few, I promise.”

“Of course, girl,” Alya squeezes Marinette and Adrien’s shoulders fondly before grabbing her boyfriend’s arm to pull him behind her.

“You cool with it, Ren?” Nino asks. He can read Adrien better than almost anyone, letting out a sigh of relief at Adrien’s nod. “Take good care of my hat,” he calls out, tripping over his own feet as Alya rolls her eyes in front of him.

“You’re gonna be separated for, like, thirty minutes, max. I think you can handle it.”

“Separated from my love and my best friend!” he bemoans. “If anything I’m underreacting.”

“I’m sorry, your  _ hat  _ is your love?”

“We’ve been through a lot together!”

“You’re a dork,” Alya’s voice fades as they travel farther away from Marinette and Adrien, but they can still hear the fondness in every word. “Lucky you’re so cute.”

Nino presses a kiss to her cheek and they can’t even make out his words over Alya’s laughter and the bustling Parisien street that separates them.

Watching their friends walk away is its own kind of avoidance tactic. Though their hands are still locked together, fingers entangled and legs pressed together from their knees down, Marinette can’t help but feel far away. Like Adrien’s drifting out to sea and all she can do is throw out a lifeboat and scream for their attention.

“Adrien,” she finally breaks the silence and their shoulders jump as if they’d forgotten she was there, lost in their own thoughts. “Please look at me.”

“Marinette?”

“Hey.” Her smile is watery as her free hand comes up to their face, brushing their fringe off their forehead and tucking a lock behind their ear. It’s an intimate movement, her fingers gentle and gaze tender like she’s holding out her heart for them to take. “I love you.”

Adrien wraps their fingers around her wrist—tethering themself to her. “I know that,” they nod in reassurance, “I do. And I love you so much.”

“I think you’re incredible, Adrien.” Her thumb smooths over the skin directly in front of their ear and it sends a shiver down their spine. “You’re brilliant. You’re caring and thoughtful, beautiful and kind. You’re everything.”

They drop their eyes and Marientte leans closer, her forehead bumping into the brim of Nino’s hat. “Hey—no—please look at me, Adrien.”

They do and her answering smile is soft and genuine. Tears threaten to spill from their eyes, heavy and full with unvoiced emotions.

“You’re brighter than any star in the sky,” Marinette whispers, ducking her head and kissing their chin. “Lighting up my life more than the sun.” The words tickle against their cheek. “You’re the wish I’d make on every shooting star, the only one I’d want by my side when night falls.” Her nose trails down the side of their own, hat pushed so far back on their head it’s almost falling off. “You’re light in the darkness. A beacon home.” A quick kiss to the tip of their nose, but she doesn’t pull back, letting her lips linger against their skin. “You’re everything, Adrien.”

Her mouth finds theirs and the world bursts.

Heaven breaks and galaxies collide when she parts her lips. They’re running through a meteor shower, the sky weeping strands of burning light for them, Marinette’s hold on Adrien the only thing securing them to earth. They wrap an arm around her waist, afraid to float off into space without her grounding them.

“Mon étoile,” she breathes into them—life and love and happiness passing between their mouths like air. “My star, my everything.”

“I love you.” Their words carry on sighs—lost in the warmth of her touch, reverently pressed into her lips. It’s a promise and a plea, both declaration and prayer, and they soak each other up like the final rays of sunshine before winter, holding tight like they might carry off into the breeze.

And finally, Adrien remembers what it’s like to belong.

**Author's Note:**

> So this was quite self-indulgent! Just as a disclaimer, this does not reflect all nonbinary experiences or desires—it does not even necessarily reflect _my_ experiences and desires—but it did genuinely make me happy to write a nonbinary experience that was supportive and loving because that’s how I wish my own coming out had gone. I hope it could make you happy, too  
> Find me on tumblr: [@jattendschaton](https://jattendschaton.tumblr.com/)


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